


So It Shall Be Written

by dianna44



Category: Free!
Genre: Abandonment, Apocalypse, Both Rin and Haru's POV, Everyone's freaking out, Family Problems, Heavy Angst, I will add more warnings as it goes on, I'm so sorry for what is to come, It's an apocalypse so yeah it's kind of sad, M/M, Makoto/Haruka Strong Friendship, Past Sex Work, Past Underage Sex, Slow Build In Relationships, Sousuke is A Kid in this one, This is not a zombie apocalypse btw, depictions of attempted suicide, gay slang, injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-05-04
Packaged: 2018-03-17 08:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3521795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianna44/pseuds/dianna44
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world's coming to an end apparently and Rin's too screwed up to care.<br/>The world's coming to an end and Haru doesn't want to believe it, but he's forced to accept it.<br/>The world's coming to an end and it's not fair that they fall in love when their destiny is already planned.<br/>The world's coming to an end and they don't bring themselves to care. </p><p>{Apocalypse AU: Based on the prompt: Maybe if we met before the apocalypse I could have loved you properly.' AU}</p><p>{Or the one where Rin and Haru are stuck in an apocalypse and of course meet because Fate apparently decided to let them fall in love to the point where they couldn't enjoy it. Rinharu}</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. {prologue}

**Author's Note:**

> So I've had this story going back and forth in my head for a while and I really shouldn't start it because I'm already writing too many stories, but whatever. I'm a bad person. 
> 
> Anyway, I'm a little hesitant for this one because there's just so much too it and yeah. 
> 
> So, this is just the beginning of the end. Haha. See what I did there? (I'm lame.)
> 
> Triggers for this chapter: Brief mention of cutting and past sex work. 
> 
> Y'all are seriously in for a ride. I'm so sorry.

 

**∫rin∫**

 

The fireworks are loud and they burst in the air with the finality of the overwhelming fact that the apocalypse has come. Rin watches with wide eyes as the greens and the reds and the yellows burst in the air and it fills his heart with so much dread and so much regret that he has to look away.

He looks at a man, a man who has to be in his late sixties and watches as the man brings an arm up to his face and wipes away tears. Or maybe it’s sweat. Rin watches as the man watches the fireworks for a few more seconds before bringing his head down to watch the ground. The ground is an ocean of dirt and trash that’s been stepped on too many times.

Rin can’t even bring himself to care.

He pockets his hands and turns away, fireworks still bursting and the people around them could be the definition of chaos. It’s all chaos.

Everything has gone to Hell.

 

**∫rin∫**

Rin finds himself in a grocery store, crowded and pushed around as the people around him rush about grabbing at things such as water bottles and axes. Why is there even an axe in this grocery store?

“I saw it first!” A loud voice screams and Rin turns, curious. It’s a lady who looks as if she’s already gone insane, clutching at teddy bear with wide, terrified eyes. Another lady is pulling at the teddy bear with determined force.

“You didn’t grab it! Give it here!” she exclaims, tugging the bear harder. Rin just shuts his eyes and looks away. If he doesn’t see it, he doesn’t have to believe it.

(He briefly wonders where Gou is. Is she fighting with someone else right now?)

“Hey! Pretty boy! Get out of the way!” Rin turns, on extinct, and it turns out the man was talking to him. “I said, move it will you?”

Rin steps aside. He came here for some food. He doesn’t want to deal with people like this. He’s dealt with them enough to know how to deal with someone who calls him “pretty boy” in situations where he’s not getting paid. Rin coughs. Anyway.

Rin ends up sidestepping two more fights and grabs some potato chips from an aisle. It’s an American brand. Rin figures it’s probably oily. He doesn’t find it in him to care about that as he grabs some bananas.

He just wants to get out of here before the main wave hits them. They said it’ll arrive in a few days. After that, there’s going to be a few more waves, but they don’t know how strong. Japan’s supposed to get hit pretty badly considering it’s an ocean and really, it’s not even the rolling tsunamis to come. It’s the people.

They’re all destroying everything. Going utterly insane and Rin doesn’t know how to—can’t—deal with it.

He used to deal with things. That was him. He was the person who dealt with everything in the group, but that was before he ran away and couldn’t find his way home. That was before he completely lost himself.

That was before a fucking apocalypse was announced to come on the morning news as if it were just another news story. The way it was said so casually enraged the people, but Rin found himself just blinking up at the television screen wondering how people in the future would have reacted to this.

Not like they’ll get to.

Rin just clutched his several food items and walked out, trying desperately to ignore the screams of the ladies behind him. He wondered who got the teddy bear in the end. He wondered why it was so important if they were all going to die anyway.

 

  **∫haru∫**

 

His mother hasn’t returned yet. But then again, Haru expected that. She only returned the first time to pay the rent and then stuck around when she realized that Haru didn’t spend much time at home anyway. She claimed it was because she wanted to bond with Haru. Haru figured it was because she had gotten in another fight with his father.

This time, she went out, hair fizzling up and sticking out in all the wrong places and that scared look in her eyes, just like that time Haru caught her pressing a knife into her arm when he was ten after his father screamed particularly loud and left with the slamming of a door. She said she was going to pick up food.

That was two days ago.

Plus, they had food.

When Haru heard about the whole apocalypse thing, he immediately went out and bought matches, mackerel, and jugs of water for food in fear that everyone else would buy all of the specific fish. He didn’t actually believe it when they told the public, but he knew others would, but it’s been days now since they’ve announced it and the whole world has gone crazy.

It’s just a relief that he has his food. They say the first wave will hit in a few days, but Haru can’t bring himself to believe them. Why didn’t they tell the public sooner? Were they afraid that the chaos would happen sooner? Well, maybe, but at least they’d get to be in chaos longer, knowing their doom.

Haru didn’t believe it and shrugged, figuring it was probably time to get up now.

 

**∫haru∫**

 

“I brought water,” Makoto announced as soon as Haru opened the door. And he did. He brought tons of it, on a little wheel cart and everything. Haru just peered up at Makoto.

“Why?” he asked, stepping aside to let Makoto roll his wheel cart in. He also got to watch Makoto roll his eyes.

“Because knowing you, you probably don’t believe in all of this hype anyway and will have drowned yourself in glasses of water before the first wave even hits,” he replies, smiling slightly. Haru throws a brief smile his way.

“Well, shouldn’t you be saving it for the twins then?” he asks. Makoto makes his way into the kitchen; Haru follows.

“No, they’re fine. We have at least five closets filled with water and necessities if _this_ is all actually real,” Makoto explains. Haru cocks an eyebrow.

“So, you don’t think it’s real?” he asks. Makoto purses his lips and is silent for a minute.

“I don’t want it to be,” is what he finally responds with. Haru simply nods.

“Thank you.” Haru means it when he says that. He’s only been sincere with a few people, Makoto being one of them. Nobody else really gives him the chance to be sincere.

His house is cold, the vents ahead filtering out all warmth and spreading cold air all around. Haru should probably change the setting, but he decides that he can just change it later. Makoto gives a slight shiver though, but he doesn’t say anything about it. Oh Makoto. Always sacrificing the small comforts in life in order not to trouble anyone else, but he supposes that Makoto’s a good person to have around in a situation like this, whatever this situation is.

“You’re always welcome, Haru,” Makoto says, softly, but loud enough for only Haru to hear. Not like anyone else is here, but if someone were, he knows that it was just for him. He smiles once more at his long-time best friend.

“So, I take it the university is closed as of the moment?” he asks, referring to Makoto’s college. Makoto nods sadly.

“Yeah. Apparently, the apocalypse warrants for a full system shut down,” Makoto jokes. Haru rolls his eyes.

“Schools are stupid,” he finally ends up saying. “There are too many people who try to tell you who you’re supposed to be and what classes you’re supposed to take to become something that you might end up hating.”

Makoto smiles again, albeit sadly this time and doesn’t say anything for a long moment.

“Well…I guess we don’t have to worry about that anymore,” he says, his voice echoing throughout the empty and cold house.

Haru just shrugs.

 

**∫rin∫**

 

Rin closes his eyes for the sixteenth time that night with a long-drawn out sigh. He can’t go to sleep. There are too many people, running around, crying, and breaking into stores just because the world is ending. There are too many lost children and Rin gets it. He does, but he can’t see how he could properly help them.

Rin eventually pulls himself up from the cold ground, almost tripping over the man passed out next to him. He’s in some random hotel that he stumbled in to try to sleep, but look how well that turned out for him. The air is humid with sweat and tears and Rin needs to get out. He can’t sleep and he’s already eaten his two bananas and bad, greasy American potato chips.

He walks down the street and acts as if it’s deserted, kicking at an empty can he sees. He wants to ignore the kid in the corner who's watching his every move or the old woman who’s holding a photo up of what is probably her lost daughter.

Rin wonders if his mother is doing that before shaking his head.

No. She probably isn’t, but Gou would. That is something that Gou would do. It’s something she _did_ do, walking around, going from door to door after Rin ran away. She looked for almost two months and Rin almost got caught a few times before he decided that maybe he had to go even further away. Maybe, he wasn’t meant to stay in the same town.

Then again, maybe he was supposed to go back as well and actually find them. They were gone though, no trace of them and only the whispers of their names were still there, carved into the wall like a bad memory.

Or maybe he was never meant to find them again. Rin sighs and kicks at a bottle this time, ignoring the screeching sound it makes as it skids across the cracked sidewalk.

Everything is wrong.

 

**∫rin∫**

 

There’s some kid that’s following him around. It’s the same kid that watched him last night with piercing teal eyes and a mop of dark brown hair. Rin didn’t say anything about it at first, hoping that it was some random kid who just happened to be going in the same direction, but after Rin made some rather unconventional turns, he realized that the kid was following him.

Rin stopped walking and turned around to meet the gaze of the kid. “Why are you following me?”

The kid looked surprised at first, but quickly regained his impassive expression before replying with, “You don’t look afraid.”

“And that means what exactly?” Rin asks, a little irritated for reasons he didn’t know. He loves kids, just not in the middle of apocalyptic worlds.

“It means that you’ll survive,” is what the kid responds with, holding himself up higher as if to prove that he’s a fighter too. Maybe he is. Rin just frowns.

“What’s your name?” he finally asks, stuffing his hands in his pockets. People have told him that he does that when he’s uncomfortable. Rin knows he does it when he just doesn’t know what to do with his hands. Maybe that means the same thing. He doesn’t know.

“Sousuke,” is what the kid says.

“So, you want to survive?” Rin asks, eyeing the kid. “How old are you?” Sousuke looks a little startled with the sudden questions but hey, the kid has been following him all night. He deserves some answe

“I’m twelve and yeah, I want to survive,” he says. Rin just eyes him again.

“I’m Rin,” Rin finally offers before turning around again. He can hear the footsteps of Sousuke following him.

“Wait. So does this mean I can still follow you?” he asks from behind him. Rin doesn’t turn to look. He wonders where the kid’s parents are, but decides that maybe it’s not so wise to ask. Like he could around preaching after all the shit he’s done.

“Well…I never said you couldn’t, did I?” is all Rin says in response.

And even though Rin isn’t looking behind him, he knows that the kid is smiling. Rin just shoves his hands down his pockets even more, squeezing at the fabric.

Everything is just too much.

 

 

 


	2. {i. before: first wave}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! hope you enjoy the new chapter!!!
> 
> Triggers for this chapter: mentions of kid abandonment and that's it really :)

**∫rin∫**

 

Apparently, Sousuke’s a shit conversationalist, which is usually just fine for Rin, but right now, he’s bored and stubborn. He’s too stubborn to start the conversation though so he’ll just say simple instructions every now and then, which Sousuke will usually respond with some high-pitched grunt. Puberty is a bitch, he can tell him that right now (he doesn’t).

By the time Rin stops and mentions food, it’s already just past noon and the small teal-eyed kid looks dead on his feet. Rin feels a slight pang of guilt before realizing that he doesn’t actually hold any responsibility for Sousuke. He’s just there to survive.

“Wait here. I’m going to get us some food,” Rin says, gesturing toward the convenience store across the street. Sousuke frowns.

“No, I’m going with you,” he insists. Rin gives the kid a once over.

“Look, kid, you like tired as hell. Just sit here for a moment. I’ll be right back, okay?” he says, trying to appease him. Sousuke shakes his head.

“That’s what she said, but she’s not here anymore,” he says. Rin freezes.

“That’s what who said?” he asks, although he thinks he already knows the answer. He’s been through the whole “lone kid” thing already. He knows about that.

Sousuke bites his lip. “My mom.”

Rin nods. He figured. “Alright, fine. Just keep up, okay?”

“I’ve been keeping up so far, haven’t I?” is all Sousuke says and Rin just shrugs. The kid’s got a point.

“Yeah, just come on then,” Rin replies before opening the convenience store door with a hesitant pause. There wasn’t anybody in here though.

“Will we get in trouble?” Sousuke asks as Rin starts to grab some food. Rin shrugs.

“If we’re going to get in trouble then that means the whole world’s going to get in trouble, right? Plus, I don’t really think they’re going to be putting in people in jail when the first wave is coming in two days.”

“Oh.”

And that’s all he says for the rest of the day.

 

**∫haru∫**

 

“Are you going to hole up?” Makoto asks as Haru flips the mackerel. Haru shrugs. He doesn’t really want to think that far ahead just yet.

“I don’t know,” he says. “Are you?”

Makoto nods. “Yes. My family is. I’ll be with them. We’re sealing ourselves in today. Do you want to stay with us?”

Haru tilts his head, considering it. He probably should. He really really should, but he didn’t want to leave his home even if to be with his best friend. He didn’t want to. Plus, he had made plans for today. The first wave is happening tomorrow evening and he wanted to just go out for a bit.

“No. I don’t think so,” he replies. Makoto stiffens.

“Haru. Please. Are you sure?” he asks. Haru looks back down at his mackerel. It’s time to flip it; he does.

“Not really, but I want to go out for a bit. Just walk around. I think I’ll get some more toilet paper,” he says. The toilet paper bit is a lie, but he just wants a reason to go out. There always seems to have to be a reason and Haru doesn’t have one. He just wants to see Japan one last time before everything becomes drenched in water.

“Okay. Okay. Just…be inside when it hits, yeah?” Makoto asks. Haru smiles while he nods. Of course. He’s not stupid.

“Okay, Makoto. I will now stand outside the entire time,” he deadpans. Makoto rolls his eyes and glances at his watch. Since when did he wear a watch, Haru wonders aimlessly.

“I have to go…you’ll be safe, okay?”

“Yes,” Haru sighs. Makoto glances over him one more time before pulling him into a tight hug. Makoto’s warm in comparison to this cold house and Haru just smiles against him.

“Be safe, Haru,” he whispers before pulling away. “See you later?” There was no possible way Haru even had a chance at saying no to that.

“Yeah.”

Makoto nods, pleased. “Okay. I’ve got to go now. Bye, Haru.”

“Bye, Makoto,” Haru says and then, Makoto’s gone and Haru’s left once again with his thoughts. Tomorrow. They say it’s happening tomorrow.

Haru doesn’t want to believe that.

After eating his almost-burnt mackerel, he puts the dishes in the sink and heads outside. He considers locking the door but then wonders what the point is. It’s not like someone will steal anything he cares about and all he has is his mackerel. Actually, someone might steal his food, so in the end he does lock it.

Haru sighs and looks up at the sky. The sky is cloudy and dark, sunlight barely streaming through and illuminating the world around him. He looks around him and grimaces. Everything is broken, it seems. There are few other people on the streets and Haru doesn’t want to think about that.

He briefly wonders where his parents are before realizing that they probably aren’t wondering where he is. They were never a part of his life before. Maybe it was too hopeful of him to think that they might want to be when the world’s going to chaos. Or at least, according to the news.

He sighs again and walks down the long stream of stairs before reaching the bottom with hopeless resignation. Well, he’s already walked down here so he might as well go with his original plan, right? He looks back up at where Makoto would go to and thinks if he really should join him. He probably should.

He doesn’t.

 

**∫rin∫**

 

“Where are we going to sleep?” Sousuke’s voice breaks through Rin’s thoughts and his gaze snaps to him. He looks tired—probably what Rin looks like as well—and Rin lets out a deep breath.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” he replies, looking around. They’ve wandered onto some street and it’s nearing dark.

“It’s tomorrow,” Sousuke whispers, looking straight at Rin. Rin can only give a stiff nod in response. Yeah, tomorrow. They say the first wave is happening tomorrow around noon.

Rin doesn’t particularly want to think about it.

“Yeah,” he says, voice tight. Sousuke doesn’t say anything else. Rin can’t find it in him to care too much. They just need to find a place to stay, but they haven’t been able to find a motel to crash in and everyone’s houses are barricaded or destroyed.

Everything is in ruins.

 

**∫haru∫**

 

Haru studies the broken streetlight with awed horror. He hasn’t really left his home since he went out to buy mackerel a few days ago and it’s as the world around him is something from the movies. He tries to imagine some American actor running around saving the day and briefly, he hopes for it.

The night is chilly and yet, it warms Haru who kicks at a pebble on the side of the road. There are few other people out, either shuffled up against walls or watching him from inside windows. Haru wonders what they’re thinking.

As he walks, he realizes there are steps behind him. He stops and turns, as if he were just stopping to study his surroundings rather than see who is following him.

It’s a boy who looks to be twelve or thirteen with striking teal eyes and a mop of dark hair. Haru wonders where his parents are but then realizes that he doesn’t even know where his are so it shouldn’t matter all too much.

He turns back around, itching at the back of his palm to calm the feeling of nervousness he didn’t even know he had. He’s happy that he’s nervous. Finally, something to hold onto. 

Haru walks for almost ten more minutes before he finally decides that the boy is indeed following him. He considers talking to the boy and finding out why, but he doesn’t know how the boy will react if Haru calls him out on it so he keeps walking.

Surprisingly, two minutes later when Haru stops hearing the sound of footsteps, he looks behind him and sees that the boy is gone. Maybe he wasn’t following Haru after all. He simply sighs and turns to look ahead of him, but the boy is standing right there, staring at him. He looks bad, gaunt and tired, and Haru wonders how he could look so bad just after a few days? What happened to his parents?

"Why are you out here?” the kid asks, breaking Haru’s thoughts. Haru frowns and him, kicking at a pebble before choosing to respond. Why is he out here? He doesn’t know.

“I wanted to see the world before everything,” is what he finally says, and the boy gives a long, slow nod. Haru wonders once again where his parents were.

“Do you have a home?” the kid asks and Haru stiffens.

“What does that have to do with anything?” he asks, but the kid is already looking behind him and Haru’s gaze shifts to the man nearing them.

The first thing he notices about the man is his hair, a contrast to the Japanese population, since it had to be some shade of burgundy. Haru met the man’s gaze and found his breath literally taken away. He was quite beautiful, even with the tired bags under his eyes and the way his lips were worriedly pursed, but maybe that just added to his foreign beauty. Hah. Like Haru even knew what he was talking about.

Before Haru can say something—anything—to the man, the kid was addressing him.

“Rin, he seems nice,” is what the kid says and Haru raises an eyebrow. He seems nice, huh? Haru keeps his gaze on the man—Rin—and watches him study him for a moment before looking back at the kid.

“That’s really all you got, kid? He seems nice? He could literally take us home and murder us to eat us for when the world runs out of food,” Rin says, and Haru has to laugh at that because like… _come on what?_ Rin’s gaze snaps back to him and his eyes darken for a second before he breaks out into a hesitant smile.

“Yo, I’m Rin,” he introduces, stepping closer as he holds out a hand. Haru grasps it and they shake, and Haru’s reminded of his father when he’d shake hands with all of those important people who’d come by when he thought Haru wasn’t there.

“Haru,” he replies and Rin smiles a bit more; Haru thinks he looks hot, but he doesn’t mention that part.

“I’m Sousuke,” the kid adds and both Haru and Rin immediately let go of each other’s hands.

“Well…hi?” Haru says, unsure of what’s really going on here. Do they want something from him? Why are they even talking to him?

“Yes, hi. So…we have a favor…sort of,” Rin says sheepishly, ducking his head a bit as if too embarrassed by the fact that he was asking for some sort of favor.

“What is it?” Haru asks.

“We don’t have a place to stay tonight,” Rin explains and _ah._ Haru understands the desperate look in Rin and he peeks a glance at Sousuke, who’s staring determinedly at his feet. So, if Haru says no, then these two would be stuck out when the first wave comes?

“So, you’re asking to stay at my house,” Haru adds up aloud and Rin ducks his head again, although nodding as well.

“If you wouldn’t mind,” he says. “I know we literally just met, but yeah…we have nowhere else to go and Sousuke thought you looked nice so….”

Haru studies him briefly, Rin shifting uncomfortably a bit under his gaze, but Haru finally nods, as if he actually considered turning them down.

“You can stay with me. It’s okay,” Haru says and Haru watches as Rin lets out a small sigh of relief. He looks at Sousuke as well and sees that he’s smiling as well.

“Thank you so much,” Rin says, smile so bright that Haru thinks it could counter the sun.

He just nods. “Sure. Here, we’ll head home now.”

 

**∫rin∫**

 

Rin honestly started to think that him and Sousuke would be stuck outside when the first wave hit and was already seeing his death in his mind because honestly, what was the chance of them getting anybody to help them so late at night?

Apparently that chance came in the figure of an unfairly attractive male who was just so happening to be wandering the streets alone.

They don’t speak at all on the way to Haru’s home, but Rin doesn’t really mind. It’s not as if he expected Haru to start asking him his life story when they had just met and besides, Haru doesn’t seem like the type to speak so much when he just met someone or maybe just in general.

They reach a long line of steps and start going up them. Rin’s never really been to this part of the city before so it was definitely a new sight to see as they kept inching higher and higher. He could hear Sousuke behind him, letting out small tufts of breath every now and then from the exercise. Even Rin is panting a bit when they get to Haru’s place, which says a lot about how much exercise he’s been getting in the past week, which is to say, none at all.

“This is it,” Haru says, gesturing to a place that could look as if it belonged on the side of the road, if not for the ridiculous amount of steps before.

“Nice,” is all Rin can say in reply because really, what was he supposed to say? Haru cracks a small smile at his response and quickly unlocks the door, stepping in first, Rin and Sousuke trailing in after him.

Rin’s first impression of the place was that it was cold and horribly plain. Rin didn’t have anything against plain houses, especially when it was the place he was allowed to stay at during the soon-to-come first wave, but it was hard for Rin to understand how a place could be so boring.

Haru shuts the door behind them, locking it once again and then turns around to face the both of them.

“So, we only have two bedrooms. My parent’s and mine, but my parents aren’t here, so do the both of you want to use that one? Or do you want to sleep somewhere else? What’s okay for the both of you?” Haru asks and Rin has the sudden urge to reach over and place a light kiss on his cheek. Maybe it was the blue of his eyes that had Rin in chaos.

Rin stays perfectly still when he responds with, “Er…I don’t know. Up to you, Sousuke?”

“I want to sleep alone, but I don’t care where,” is his instant reply. Rin nods, thinking over his words.

“So, he can sleep in one of the rooms and I can sleep with you? Or on a couch if you have one? Honestly, you could just give me a pillow and I’ll fall asleep on the floor or something,” Rin says.

Haru shakes his head. “I don’t mind you sleeping in my room…unless you’re planning on killing me in my sleep. In that case, then I’ll have to get you a pillow instead and a locked room.”

Rin laughs, rolling his eyes. “Why would the killer reveal his motives to his victim? This isn’t a bad anime.”

Haru shrugs. “Could be and we just don’t know it.” Rin just shakes his head, wondering who exactly this man was and why he was even being so nice to them.

Sousuke suddenly gives a loud cough. “Okay, well I’m going to go to bed now…?” Haru nods immediately.

“Here, I’ll show you their room.” He starts heading somewhere down the hall and Rin stands there awkwardly for a few more moments before Haru’s already headed back toward him. “Do you want to go to bed too?”

“Sure,” Rin shrugs, shouldering his backpack. Haru starts walking back down the hallway, but this time, Rin follows him, pacing his steps slowly and evenly. He doesn’t know why he even noticed that.

The room is average-sized and plain, like the rest of the house, but it has an actual bed in comparison to a futon, so Rin’s partially relieved.

“Do you min if I take off my shirt?” Rin asks. “It’s incredibly dirty and I wouldn’t want you to sleep next to me unless that doesn’t mind you…?”

“You can sleep without it. It doesn’t really matter to me,” Haru responds. Rin nods and pulls it off of him, the smell of dried sweat and exhaustion raking his body. He thinks he feels Haru’s gaze on him, but when he looks at him, Haru’s prepping the bed, completely ignoring him.

Haru’s changed his shirt, it seems and Rin slips into bed, sighing a bit at how comfortable the bed is. He looks at Haru, who’s getting into bed as well.

“Seriously. Thanks for doing this,” he says honestly and gratefully. He is nothing but thankful for the man. Haru nods and bites his lip.

“You’re welcome, Rin.”

“Well, good night,” Rin says awkwardly, and Haru turns off the light beside him. They’re pitched into darkness and all Rin can hear are the unsteady breaths escaping the pair of them and his own, quick heartbeat. It’s almost as if his heart’s a time bomb ticking away, waiting for the explosion. Fuck. It’s tomorrow, isn’t it?

“It’s tomorrow,” Haru suddenly breathes out and Rin’s heart quickens. He’s turned away from Haru, but it’s almost as if he’s right there in front of him, reminding him of everything that is to come. Rin almost wants to scream at him to shut up and to never talk about and forget that anything like that is to actually happen.

He wonders briefly once more how Gou is doing. He really fucking hopes that she’s safe.

“Yeah,” he sighs. “It is.”

“Yeah,” is all Haru says in response, before shifting and turning over so now they both have their backs to each other.

They don’t say anything more and Rin’s convinced that they won’t even be able to sleep, but eventually, he’s drifting off to the sound of Haru’s unsteady breaths and the faint sound of Sousuke crying.

Well…death to tomorrow then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked it! feedback would be appreciated but do whatever haha :)
> 
> bai guys :)
> 
> -DiAnna44
> 
> tumblr- iwannapandanamedchubs


	3. {ii.present: first wave}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: mentions of child abandonment and drowning

**∫rin∫**

 

Rin wakes up too early and he blinks in the darkness, the beginnings of new rays of sun just barely rising above the windowpane. He lets out a deep breath, hearing Haru’s soft and steady breaths besides him. He blinks. Once. Twice. All the way to nine before he’s finally managed to convince himself that this indeed is happening and if Haru’s clock is correct, it’s happening in less than five hours.

Rin doesn’t know how he should feel about that. He’s had days to figure out what to feel, thinking the panic would settle in on the day of, but here he is, letting short and slightly shaky breaths into the air for it to disappear into the world that’s soon to disappear soon as well.

He loathes feeling like this. He turns over, his body facing Haru and studies the other boy’s smooth and toned structure wondering how he’d think about him if he met him before all of this happened. Would he look at Haru any differently? Maybe, he’d feel more like the stranger he is rather than the partner he’s already imagined him being.

Rational emotions are definitely difficult in times like these.

“I want to escape,” Rin finally breathes out, his reasoning long gone as to why he said it. He knows it’s true, but he doesn’t know how saying it aloud will help him. How will anything help him now?

He turns back around, the light a quarter of an inch higher than it was before and he closes his eyes, sighing softly.

“Me too.” Haru’s voice travels through the room like honey and when it finally reaches Rin, he’s already half asleep.

He’s noticed that over the course of the past few days, escape has become the useless, unspoken words that everybody yearns for, and yet hearing it come from Haru, he also realizes that some of the underlying fear has managed to escape from him.

Maybe the word does work after all.

 

**∫haru∫**

 

Haru tries to forget that the supposed soon-to-be first wave is happening in three hours. He tries to forget it when he wakes up for the fifth time, but this time gets out of bed, warm feet hitting the cold wood, yawns echoing through the house at a slow pace. He tries to forget as he walks down into the kitchen, absentmindedly rubbing at his head. He tries to forget as he pulls out a water bottle and sits down on his couch.

He automatically moves to turn on the television, but he stops himself, remembering that the Japanese broadcast system hasn’t been working over the past couple days.

He glances at the clock again.

2 hours and 52 minutes until it hits noon. What can Haru possibly do in 2 hours and 52 minutes?

Absolutely nothing.

Maybe he’ll make some food.

As he aimlessly starts to flick his light on and off, wondering briefly if this will be the last time he’ll get to experience electricity, he hears soft steps making their way down the hall and Sousuke walks in, looking like he had the worst night. His eyes are puffy, his hair sticking up everywhere, and Haru watches as he glances around, eyes glazing over with resignation as he takes everything in.

It’s one of the saddest things Haru has seen in a while.

“How much longer?” Sousuke asks, taking a wary seat next to Haru.

“Two hours and forty-seven minutes,” Haru responds immediately, sighing a bit.

Sousuke nods, looking around once more. Haru wonders what he’s thinking about. “Is Rin still sleeping?”

“I guess,” Haru responds. “He hasn’t gotten out of bed, but I’m not sure if he’s actually asleep or not.”

“I wish I was still asleep,” Sousuke says. “I wish I could just sleep through all of it and wake up when everything is like how it was.”

“Don’t we all, kid,” Rin says, walking into the room. Haru can’t help but notice that he looks like shit as well. He bets he looks the same too.

“Hey, Rin,” Sousuke greets him, smiling a bit at his appearance. Rin nods at him before shifting his gaze to Haru who hasn’t said anything.

“So not even three hours, huh?” he asks, lowering himself on the floor, crossing his legs.

“Yeah. It’s happening pretty soon,” Haru responds.

“Huh,” Rin says. “How you holding up, Sousuke?”

Sousuke shrugs. “It’s not like I can stop it.”

“I wish we could,” Haru finally allows himself to mutter. Their gazes snap to him. “I wish we could stop it. I wish it wasn’t happening at all.”

“Yeah, well, wishful thinking doesn’t always turn out for the best, you know?”

“Mhm,” Haru responds. That’s just too sad of a thought to even consider. This is all pretty sad. He thinks about how other families are holding up—the true kind of families—not like his that’s for sure. Not like this. He wonders if mothers are crying or if children are screaming. It’s too tragic to think about it. He hopes the Tachibana family is doing well.

“Any regrets?” Rin asks the two of them, leaning back on his hands.

“Not holding onto my mom,” Sousuke says. “I think I’d rather be with her right now even if she didn’t want to be with me.”

Rin nods slowly and then looks at Haru who doesn’t know what to say. His regrets? What are his regrets? He thinks about his mother and his father and about all of the friends he’s lost and then he knows.

“Not saying anything,” Haru says. Both wait as if he’ll say more but Haru doesn’t want to. He doesn’t see a need to.

Rin still nods though like he gets it. Maybe he does. Haru doesn’t even know him after all. He sighs.

“What about you, Rin?” Sousuke asks and Rin stills, blinking rapidly. Haru stills as well. Tension fills the room and Rin cracks a smile.

“I guess I regret not making my own choices,” he says. Haru thinks over his words somehow getting the suspicion that even if he were to make his own choices he wouldn’t be able to. It’s a depressing thought.

Then again, the entire thing is depressing.

           

**∫rin∫**

 

The power goes out just as there are twenty minutes left on the estimated countdown. Alarms were blaring for twenty minutes prior but now they’re thrown into a dead silence that Rin still isn’t used to in this city. Silence is something that never and shouldn’t exist here. He sighs. They’ve all come closer together, their breaths and the rain outside being the only sounds in the room. Everything else is almost like static, Rin thinks.

Sousuke’s pulled his knees up to his chest and his breaths are loudest, coming quicker than his or Haru’s. Rin wishes he knew what to say to the kid but he doesn’t and that’s that.

The lights flicker for one brief second and they all startle but then they go out again with a loud and dangerous pop. Now, the bolts are just shattered. Great.

"How much longer?” Sousuke breathes out, shaking. Haru looks at the clock.

“Eight minutes until noon,” Haru softly responds.

“Oh,” Sousuke says. It’s quiet again after that and Rin absolutely hates it. He lets out a deep breath and glances outside before remembering that the house is pretty much boarded up. Haru doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to board up his house, but then again he barely knows him.

“Do any of you want water?” Haru asks suddenly, standing up, hands trembling slightly. Rin looks away. He doesn’t want to know that Haru is as scared as him because it only reminds him that this is a real thing that’s happening. So, he can pretend everything is okay for right now. He can try and pretend that this dreaded wait is for something else—something better. Fuck.

“Sure,” Rin croaks out. Sousuke just nods, placing his chin on his knees and looking down. His hair falls over his face and Rin purses his lips as Haru walks off, his steps being the loudest sound in the house. Each step is eerie and Rin kind of wants him to come back immediately.

Haru comes back almost a minute later, three water bottles in his hands and hands one to the each of them first before sitting down again. Rin takes it and looks down at it with a grimace.

“Kind of ironic, isn’t it?” he asks.

“What?”

“That the last thing we might drink is what might kill us,” Rin responds and fuck, if that isn’t a thought. Haru tenses and his fingers tighten around the water bottle. Sousuke just looks down at it.

“I love the water. I guess that’s considered ironic too,” Haru says.

“Oh, you do?” Rin asks, vaguely noticing Sousuke put the water down beside him.

“Yeah. I swim—swam, I guess. Ever since I was a kid,” Haru says before heaving a sigh and looking at the door. “Only free though.”

Rin cracks a grin at that and says, “Butterfly.”

Haru’s gaze snaps to him, shock etched into his expression. “You swim?”

Rin nods. “Yeah, I did. And I guess it is ironic to answer your earlier question. That we might drown and all….”

“I swim too,” Sousuke suddenly says, voice soft and weak.

“Yeah?” Rin asks, smiling a bit. Seems they all do have something in common after all. He supposes that’s a nice thing to possibly die to.

“Yeah. Butterfly mainly, but free sometimes,” he replies. “I miss it.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah.”

“How much longer?” Rin breathes out.

“A minute.”

“A minute?” Sousuke asks.

 “Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Maybe we’ll survive,” Sousuke croaks.

“Maybe,” he says.

Nobody says anything after that, just listening to the sound outside and suddenly, Haru’s watch is beeping alerting all of them that it’s noon. He doesn’t turn it off until more than a few seconds have passed. Rin breathes in…out…in…out…the rain is louder now and he can hear the wind whipping at the door. Wasn’t this supposed to be a tsunami not a hurricane?

In…out…screaming can be heard and Rin closes his eyes. In…out…in…out… Haru’s grabs his hand and Sousuke starts to cry. In…out…in…he feels pressure on all sides and his eyes fling open and it’s everything wrong in the world. The windows are shaking and the smell of the ocean fills his mind, his body and suddenly he is breathing the water and fuck, it’s so bad it’s so badit’ssobadmakeitstop and then he’s floating and his arms are moving, and he’s realized that the house has water in it for the first time and Sousuke is flailing and Haru is still holding onto his hand.

Rin closes his eyes and decides to just float.

 

**∫haru∫**

 

When the water came flowing in at the slow rate at first, Haru reached for Rin’s hand automatically, needing something to hold onto if anything.

Then, it came in all at once and water was everywhere, filling his lungs, filling his soul and he remembered his first ever swimming lesson with his mother and father and then he remembered his mother screaming at him in the night, and Haru could absolutely not let go.

Haru thought Rin was awake for most of it, but then he felt Rin’s hand go limp in his and he knew he had passed out. Sousuke was swimming—where, Haru didn’t know, but at least he wasn’t passed out. He watched items float around and he kept thinking as he grabbed onto Rin’s head to bring it above water that he could hear someone screaming, but really, it was his own mind reacting to the sounds of the wave hitting them for what seemed to be entirely too long.

He wonders if his mother is safe for another brief second before his grip on Rin tightens because who cares about the mother who abandoned him when he had to make sure this person didn’t die. He couldn’t let Rin die.

Thankfully, it seems the water was starting to slow to a stop, but it didn’t stop the aftershock of the remnants of the wave starting to pour in, starting to fill his house to a brim.

They had to get out. They had to get out now—where was Sousuke? He didn’t know, but he was swimming and damnit, Rin was so heavy, why was he so heavy? Rin suddenly sucked in a loud breath and Haru watched with wide eyes as his eyes flew open, blinking at the forceful attack of the water around him and he gripped onto Haru confused. Haru was pushed down into the water for a second before Rin took hold of him and pulled him back up, panic shining through.

Damnit. Damnit. Damnit.

They were kicking and then Haru saw the door and he pulled on Rin’s arm who was glancing around, trying to keep his head above the water. Haru took hold of Rin and they went under, trying to reach the door.

The door—god, they just needed to get to the door and suddenly, he was pushing. Fuck, he was pushing so hard and it opened, and they went sliding out, water mixing with the remains of the passing wave. They coughed and spluttered, still swimming before they started to swim to the steps.

Steps that they could walk up and then they were on something with a definite ground rather than floating, but everything wasn’t good and Haru briefly wonders where Sousuke was and he swears he can hear his watch beeping, but then he’s closing his eyes and maybe, yeah just maybe, it’d be better to just rest and wait it all out.

He just needs some rest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyyy next chapter coming like now


	4. {iii. after: first wave}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: descriptions of throwing up, death, and blood.

 

**∫rin∫**

 

When Rin wakes up, his entire body aches and his lungs hurt. He gives out shaky, painful breaths and groans, rolling over, feeling gravel underneath his body and a hard rock prodding into his right leg. His eyes slowly open and the sun blinds him for the horizon it’s nearly over. He coughs violently and bends his head to cough up some of the water. His head hurts and he feels like someone punched him repeatedly in the stomach.

Sitting up, he notices Haru by his side, looking like complete shit, dirt sprawled on his cheeks and cuts all over his body. His clothes are ripped and Rin glances down at himself and groans again at the sight of his own clothes and the pain from fully sitting up.

Rin glances around, blinking at the sight. They’ve somehow made it out and onto the higher steps above Haru’s house and Rin is almost in awe at the newly formed sea. The water is somewhat still, small ripples making their way across every once in a while, but Rin squints, trying to see what items are floating in the water.

When he sees the first dead body, he pales and turns his head to throw up violently, water and blood spilling out of him like it was simply last night’s meal. No no no, people aren’t actually supposed to die. No one was supposed to die! It was supposed to be a scare thing! Not _real_!

Fuck. Rin brings his hand up to wipe his tears away but seeing the blood on them makes his stomach lurch again so he looks away. That’s when he sees Sousuke in the distance, completely passed out, laying what looks like on Haru’s table. He’s not far, close enough to retrieve after he wakes up Haru.

He turns over and looks at Haru for a second, noticing once again all of his injuries before shaking him slightly, trying to wake him up.

“Haru,” he says, voice sounding completely wrecked. He shakes him again, but Haru continues to lie motionless and unresponsive. “Haru, wake up.” He tries again, but Haru stays still. Rin’s eyes widen and fuck, is he dead? No no—he’s breathing. Thank god, he’s breathing. He shakes him again. “Haru!”

Haru wakes up with a jolt, scaring the shit out of Rin who jumps back in surprise.

“Did we survive?” is the first thing Haru asks, not even opening his eyes.

“For now,” Rin replies, sagging in relief that Haru woke up. Haru opens his eyes, his blue eyes seeming to light up the world.

“For now,” Haru repeats, groaning loudly as he sits up. He glances up at Rin, bangs falling in his face. Haru gives him a small smile and Rin reaches over to tug one the strands behind Haru’s ear before smiling back.

“Yeah, for now,” Rin says again, smiling softly. Haru studies him for a few brief more seconds before tearing his gaze away, his mouth forming an ‘O’ when he sees the remnants of the first wave.

Rin watches him take in the same things Rin just did and the only thing Rin thinks is how it was fucking tragic for something so beautiful to see something so ugly.

When they are finally able to reach Sousuke’s table, they pull it over to the steps and realize that he’s still breathing with not many injuries. They wake him up and when they do, he doesn’t say anything at all. They sit on the steps for a long time, all quiet and painfully tired until Sousuke finally says something.

“We should go.”

“Go where, kid?” Rin asks, trying to not watch the lady pierce the air with her screams of horror as she swims through the water to her floating, dead husband.

“It doesn’t matter. Just not here. I want to leave,” he says.

“You and me both,” is all Rin can say to that. Haru doesn’t say anything about it except for the sharp intake of breath he’ll make every once in a while.

Rin closes his eyes, thinking of this peace that’ll only last not even two days. It’s hard not to think about it when all he can hear are the screams.

Thing is, he’s not sure it’s that woman’s.

The world is chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyy so yay I updated!! Two chapters because like this is gonna be in a "before/present/after" sense for each chapter and here's the short after chapter. Most after chapters will probs be updated with the present and be short tbh. 
> 
> well hit me up on tumblr: iwannapandanamedchubs   
> and comments and kudos are soooo appreciated!! :)
> 
> lots of love,  
> DiAnna44

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the little prologue. It's just a feel for y'all to get how I'm going to write it, what to expect, etc. 
> 
> Anyway, I'm planning on updating this quite frequently, but we'll see. I get so busy sometimes or I have to update my other stories. So sorry. :/
> 
> comments and kudos are much appreciated.
> 
> bai guys. :)
> 
> -DiAnna44
> 
> anyway talk to me on [tumblr](http://iwannapandanamedchubs.tumblr.com/)  
> and talk to me about rinharu on this [tumblr](http://literallynothingbutrinharu.tumblr.com/)


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